


Spirit Animal

by Aubrie1234



Category: Shall We Date?: Love Tangle, Spirit Animals - Various Authors
Genre: Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 13:13:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13718448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aubrie1234/pseuds/Aubrie1234
Summary: Nolan doesn't believe in magic. Who would when you've grown up in a technological world where magic doesn't exist? But his views change when a special animal comes into his life and he makes every effort to protect it. Turns out he isn't the only one with a spirit animal in Lilac Court, either. But why and how did this happen? Is there another reason to it all?





	Spirit Animal

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was posted on Fanfiction.net, but when I saw how many more fics this site had of the Shall We Date? series, I decided to move it here. It's been a while since I played any of the games, but I wrote this out when I was really into them. I'll try to add onto it soon, but I hope you like the crossover!

"Nice night, isn't it?" Ryan looked up from polishing a glass to see Nolan seated at the bar.

"Came alone this time, huh?" Last time Nolan had been there, he had brought Kayla with him. The lawyer frowned slightly.

"Yes, but that's none of your concern. As it is, please fix me a virgin drink. Anything will do." A light came to Ryan's eyes as he began making a non-alcoholic Sangria.

"Later tonight, if you don't need to get up early, could you come to my room? I know it's not really your thing, but I got a bottle of this new drink in recently. It's called 'Sweet Nectar' and, though I haven't tasted it myself, it's supposed to taste just like your favorite food or drink." This piqued Nolan's interest.

"And only you have it?" Ryan nodded.

"Originally I ordered something else and the bottle came by mistake, but the guy said I could keep it. Cody doesn't know about it and I've been dying to try it myself, but-"

"You don't want to subject your brother to an alcoholic drink if it is." Nolan finished for him as he was given his drink, "That's fine, I don't mind trying it with you." Ryan gave a relieved smile.

"Thanks. Just come by any time you're free, it doesn't have to be later tonight."

"Well, I've just finished a case, so trying a new drink would be nice. When will your shift end?" The bartender glanced at a watch on his wrist.

"In a few minutes, actually. Think you can wait that long?"

"Sure." Nolan leisurely sipped his drink, watching other people come in and out as he waited.

* * *

"Here it is." They had both just gotten back to Lilac Court and were now in Ryan's and Cody's room, the brown-haired man taking a bottle out from the sliding cabinet under his bed. The liquid inside seemed to make the dark bottle glow a faint yellow.

"Interesting." the lawyer mused, "And you're sure Cody won't be back for a time, correct?" Ryan nodded.

"As far as I know." Twisting the top off, he poured a clear liquid into two shot glasses he had brought into the room with them. As Ryan closed the bottle, Nolan picked up his own glass and examined it. The liquid certainly didn't glow now, but the bottle did. Curious, it was.

"Ready?" Ryan held up his own glass after putting the bottle away. Nolan gave a smile.

"Ready." They clinked their glasses and drank the liquid. As Ryan had said, the liquid was sweet like its namesake and did taste quite a bit like his favorite food.

"That was great." Nolan praised, "Do you want to drink more?"

"Well, it seems to be one of a kind, so I don't want to waste it all. But now that I know it doesn't have a high alcohol consistency, I can share it with Cody."

"You truly care about him, don't you?" Nolan asked as he went into the main room, going over to the sink to wash the glass. Ryan followed, nodding.

"Of course I do. Who wouldn't care about their little brother?"

"He can take care of himself, though."

"Mmm..." Ryan didn't sound that convinced and shook his head, "Thanks for sharing a drink with me tonight, Nolan. You should get on to bed, I can clean this up."

"Thank you for sharing it with me, but I'm your guest. Allow me to help." Ryan sighed, but gave a smile.

"Alright." A few minutes were spent in silence as the two washed their glasses and anything leftover in the sink before it was time for Nolan to leave.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Sure. I just hope we don't get hangovers."

"We'll see." Without another word or glance, Nolan walked away and back to his room. He had noticed shortly after swallowing the drink, a warm, tingling feeling had spread over his body. It felt fairly similar to if he had been drunk, but he knew that wasn't the case. Maybe it was just a side-effect. As it was, it made him a bit sleepy, so he decided to go to bed early that night.

But as the two slept, they didn't notice the soft flashes of light in their rooms or the two creatures that appeared. One stayed on the ground and curled up there, while the other took to the bed and snuggled up to the human it was with. Said human smiled in his sleep and gently hugged the creature as if it was a doll or something precious to him. The night continued to be quiet, but the morning was not to be so.

* * *

Nolan blinked open his eyes and yawned. He no longer felt the tingling feeling from last night, but felt a little strange. Looking around his room, he felt like something was missing. He hadn't quite felt like it before, but he knew it was significant. Had someone come into his room and stolen something? But nothing looked out of place. Could it be in the main room of the apartment?

He slid his feet off the bed and stood, ready to go look, only to touch scales when his foot went forward. Confused, he looked down, only to be met with a mixture of fear and happiness. His foot was touching one of the biggest alligators he had ever seen. He was quite sure it was an alligator because he knew how to tell it apart from a crocodile. But as it was, the alligator had to be huge, filling up most of the floor of his bedroom, and its head was tilted so it could look at him. But instead of having no emotion, as Nolan expected to see in its eyes, they held a sort of wonder and boredom. It also seemed calm and wouldn't attack him, but how could he know for sure?

Slowly, fearfully, he took his foot away and got back on his bed. The alligator followed his movement with its eye before seeming to yawn, then crawled to the door. To Nolan's shock, it raised itself up, grabbed the knob with a claw, and opened the door. It gave him one more look before leaving, as if it was saying, 'Come on, it's breakfast time.'

"...I know I'm going to regret this..." Standing, Nolan followed the alligator. After leaving him, it had made itself comfortable on his couch and was staring at him again. Suddenly, there was a furious knocking at the door. Nolan opened it to find Ryan on the other side, with a strange bear-/cat-like creature on his back. A strange smell of popcorn also seemed to be in the air.

"We need to talk." he said, looking about as frightened as Nolan felt.

"I was about to go after you myself." the lawyer stepped aside, letting Ryan and the bearcat thing in. Ryan stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the alligator, where the reptile began hissing at the bearcat. Said animal ignored the hissing and hung there, looking around.

"This is no coincidence, I'm guessing." Nolan's words seemed to snap Ryan out of his fear-induced shock, to which the bartender nodded.

"When I woke up, I found this thing snuggling up to me. I won't come off." Ryan gave him a pitying look, "Don't tell me the alligator was in bed with you too?"

"Thankfully, no. It also didn't attack me, even when I accidentally touched it." Nolan gave the alligator a hard look, where it settled down, much to his surprise. But it still glared at the bearcat, though, "You don't suppose your new drink had something to do with this, do you?"

"I had a hunch and showed the bottle to this guy." he pointed to the bearcat, "He instantly hugged the bottle, so it took a while to pry it away before I could come see you."

"Then I wonder..." the lawyer looked to the alligator once again, "We may have summoned these animals with the drink, which may mean they can't leave us." Ryan looked at the bearcat with a new light in his eyes.

"You mean these guys came to us because of a simple drink?"

"I think so. And if that's the case," Nolan slowly walked over and sat beside the alligator on the couch, where nothing happened except attracting the reptile's attention, "they may also be fairly intelligent. He managed to open my bedroom door before you came in." the dark blue-haired man placed a hand on the alligator's tail.

"But why us? Is it only because of the drink or are there other reasons?"

"Possibly, but neither of us really knows anything. Until we learn more,  _keep that bottle safe_."

"Don't worry, I already am. I never got the chance to tell Cody since I went to bed early, so he has no idea." A flash of fear then crossed Ryan's face, "Oh man, what will he say since I have to take care of this guy?!" The bearcat gave a small, happy growl and pawed at Ryan's arm. In response, the bartender raised his hand.

"What is-?" he didn't get to finish because there was a sudden flash of light, and the bearcat was gone. However, a picture of the animal was stitched onto the back of Ryan's hand as a tattoo, the tail of it curling multiple times around his wrist. He held a hand over the burning tattoo in pain, but was completely surprised. Nolan was the same, looking towards the alligator. It gave him a look that said, 'You gotta earn my trust if you want  _me_  to do that' and a glare.

"...Whoa." was the word that slipped out of Ryan's mouth, "It hurt a little, but now it's a tattoo on my hand and wrist?"

"I'm guessing it only happens if the animal trusts you enough. But that doesn't mean you can keep it like that forever. Surely it needs to eat." The alligator let out a low bellow, as if telling them that Nolan was right and it was hungry.

"At least I can hide it from Cody now. But without it, I feel lonely, like something's missing." On a whim, Ryan flicked his tattooed wrist and the bearcat appeared, crawling back up onto it perch on his back. The brown-haired man smiled now that it was back and that gave Nolan an idea.

"I felt the same this morning, before I saw the alligator. Then I became happy, as if it was the missing piece I was looking for. I think that, not only are we bonded, but we might possibly be life partners."

"I feel sorry for you."

"Why?"

"You have to deal with  _him_." Ryan looked at the alligator uneasily, where it glared back and gave another bellow, stronger than the last. It wasn't loud, but it was enough to make a nearby desk vibrate, shaking everything on it.

"Don't worry about me. You have enough to worry about for yourself." Nolan stood, "You might also want to have a plan to explain the new tattoo."

"I'll think of something. Thanks for hearing me out, too." Ryan held up his hand. The bearcat licked his palm before going into tattoo form, which didn't hurt as much this time, "My shift doesn't begin until tonight, and since you don't have any cases to work on, why don't we spend the rest of the day trying to figure this out?"

"We can't. It's unusual for us to meet up, so we need to keep our distance." Nolan said, "Let's try to talk before your shift, at least. Until then, let's try to find out as much as we can separately."

"I can ask Kayla, Timo, and Paul about the animals, but as for what's going on, we might have to check the library. No offense, but I think you might be spending all day in here with him."

"I suppose." Nolan opened the door, "Good luck."

"Same to you." Ryan gave him a nod before leaving. When the door closed, the alligator bellowed again. The desk shook and some of the items on it nearly fell off. Nolan rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

"What am I going to do with you?" he sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I got the idea for this story while looking at a list of patronuses (or is it patroni?) on Quotev, about what each animal represents, and I thought about using the descriptions to pick out spirit animals for each person. Here are the descriptions for Nolan and Ryan respectively, and I hope I got them right:
> 
> Alligator: Ancient wisdom, primal energy, survival, tradition. Alligator people tend to be assertive and self-assured, but are subtle and not overly showy. They are confident in their own power and not afraid to use it, but are rarely aggressive without reason. An alligator totem can teach us to be patient, observant, and how to excel in life using our natural talents.
> 
> Binturong: Flexibility, relaxation, zen. Binturong as a totem teaches you to take things at your own pace, the ability to handle multiple tasks without being stressed or rushed. Though often relatively unknown and underestimated, binturong people are very talented, agile, and confident in their personal element. Binturong medicine teaches us to be happy with what we are given and to find the positive aspects in any situation.
> 
> 2\. Spirit animals tend to be bigger than regular animals, but as with her own species, the binturong is a girl and is going to be even bigger than her normal size (as female binturongs are already 20% bigger than the male). As for why they didn't appear right away... *shrugs* It's been a while, so I don't quite remember the reason why.
> 
> 3\. I know the Nectar is clear and doesn't glow at all, but my personal opinion is that is has a slight yellow glow to it that can only be seen in certain circumstances, such as in the dark-colored bottle.
> 
> 4\. Male alligator bellows are usually used to declare territory and attract mates. They also have a thing called infrasound to them, the range of sound below what humans can hear. Waves of infrasound can make strong vibrations (such as making the water around them 'sprinkle'), so the alligators are usually more felt than heard. (I used Wikipedia for this, so I hope I get the bellows correct in the story!)
> 
> 5\. Binturong musk glands emit smells reminiscent to popcorn or corn chips and they are actually less related to cats and bears than their looks and nickname (bearcat) suggests. Their tails are nearly as long as their bodies and are prehensile, like a monkey's, and can be awake during the day and night (though they prefer the night). They also live in trees but go to the ground to switch trees instead of jumping from one to the other. (Also from Wikipedia)
> 
> 6\. Kayla Walters is the name I gave to the Girl Love Interest.
> 
> Those should be all the notes for now, and if I get anything wrong, please tell me so I can fix it. As it is, this won't be the only Shall We Date? story I'll be adding over here and I hope to add more to this one later on. See you later!


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